VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Sunday accepted the resignation of Minsk’ archbishop who had been blocked for months by Belarusian authorities from returning to his homeland after criticizing a crackdown on anti-government protesters there.Monsignor Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, in charge of the Minsk-Mohilev diocese, had only returned to Belarus on Dec.
24, just in time to celebrate Christmas Mass. That was nearly four months after he was blocked entry while traveling back from a religious visit to Poland.
The impasse ended last month after Francis sent a former Vatican ambassador to Belarus to Minsk to meet with the country's authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.Church rules require bishops to submit their resignation ahead of their 75th.